Citation Nr: 1304440	
Decision Date: 02/07/13    Archive Date: 02/19/13

DOCKET NO.  10-43 843	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Louis, Missouri


THE ISSUES

1.  Entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the right upper extremity, to include as secondary to service-connected diabetes mellitus, type II.

2.  Entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the left upper extremity, to include as secondary to service-connected diabetes mellitus, type II.

3.  Entitlement to an initial increased rating for PTSD.


REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by:	Missouri Veterans Commission


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

G. Slovick, Associate Counsel 


INTRODUCTION

The Veteran served on active duty from July 1966 to July 1969.

This matter is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of a rating decision in January 2010 of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) which denied service connection for peripheral neuropathy of each upper extremity and granted service connection for PTSD with a 10 percent disability rating.

The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC.  VA will notify the appellant if further action is required.


REMAND

In a December 2012 statement in support of his claim, the Veteran stated that he wished to testify at a personal hearing in the St. Louis Regional Office.  

Pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.700, a hearing on appeal will be granted to an appellant who requests a hearing and is willing to appear in person.  Since the RO schedules Travel Board hearings, a remand of this matter to the RO is warranted.  Presently, it is unclear whether the Veteran wishes a hearing before a Decision Review Officer or a hearing before a Veterans Law Judge; the RO must determine the kind of hearing the Veteran wishes and must schedule the Veteran for a hearing accordingly.  


Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action:

1.  Determine whether the Veteran wishes a DRO hearing or a travel board hearing.  Schedule the Veteran for that hearing in the RO, pursuant to his December 2012 request.

2.  Then, if the Veteran has a DRO hearing, readjudicate the claim in light of all pertinent evidence (to particularly include the evidence added to the claims file December 2012) and issue a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC).

3.  Following the completion of all required actions at the AOJ level, return the case to the Board, if appropriate.

The appellant has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matters the Board has remanded.  Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999).

This claim must be afforded expeditious treatment.  The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of Veterans' Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for additional development or other appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner.  See 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5109B, 7112 (West Supp. 2012).




_________________________________________________
RONALD W. SCHOLZ
Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals

Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2002), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.  This remand is in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (2012).